As many as 200 Vietnamese tour guides who can speak Chinese in Da Nang have together sent their signed petition to the city authorities to complain about many Chinese nationals working illegally as tour guides for visitor groups from their country to the city over recent days.

A Chinese tour guide (standing) (An image taken from a clip)

These Chinese nationals are reported to do all the talking both on tourist coaches and at local popular attractions, whilst the city’s Chinese-speaking guides work as ‘sitting guides’, and their job is purely to deal with the local inspection teams from the city authorities whenever a foreign tourist group is checked. 

A Chinese-speaking local guide remarked that foreigners, including Chinese nationals, who are illegally working as tour guides in the city, are violating Viet Nam’s regulations about tourism activities.  This can cause unemployment risks facing local guides.   

He also noted that the illegal operation of Chinese nationals in the city is raising worries amongst the general public about whether or not these unlicensed Chinese tour guides are giving out accurate information about Viet Nam’s politics, culture, history and geography to their compatriots during their stay in the city. 

Therefore, all Chinese-speaking guides in the city asked relevant local agencies to take even more effective measures to deal with this problem and ensure their job security.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Tran Chi Cuong said that his unit has yet to gather enough evidence to prove that there are foreigners, including Chinese nationals, working illegally as tour guides in the city.  He, therefore, asked Chinese-speaking local guides to film those who are illegally working as tour guides in the city, and send them to his Department for handling.

Mr Cuong said that local tourism inspectors are finding it very hard to detect foreigners in working illegally as tour guides in the city because they constantly move from place to place.  He added that the inspectors have been on duty around the clock at the Da Nang International Airport and some of the city’s popular attractions many times as they received reports from local tour guides via the Department’s hotline.  However, no suspects have been found.

Lawyer Pham Thanh from the city’s Pham and Associates Lawyer Office underlined that all Viet Nam-based travel agencies serving foreign tourists must only use domestic tour guides, with no foreigners allowed to work as tour guides.  In reality, many foreign travel agencies have been established in the city under the names of Vietnamese nationals, with the aim of offering services exclusively to Chinese tourists.  However, these units are in fact run by Chinese people but are disguised as Vietnamese-owned entities.

He urged relevant local agencies, especially the Department of Tourism, to increase their active involvement in ensuring a healthy local tourism environment, and protecting the legitimate rights of Vietnamese tour guides who can speak Chinese.

Deputy Director Cuong remarked “My Department will increase its checks and tighten the management of local travel agents which organise tours for Chinese tourists.  The focus will be on working closely with local police force and relevant agencies to check temporary residence cards of foreigners in the city.  Importance will be attached to revoking the business licence of any travel agency found to be using foreigners working illegally as tour guides, as well as expelling Chinese violators from Viet Nam."